British model Jourdan Dunn has spoken out, again, about the fight against racism in the fashion industry, in a hope to tackle the on going problem.
The 23-year-old model, who is the face for an impressive number of fashion campaigns, including Topshop, Burberry, DKNY and H&M opened up about the serious problem, which continues to be an issue in the industry, during an honest interview with Miss Vogue magazine, for which appears as the cover star. She said: “I don’t know why people applaud designers for having just one ethnic model. It’s not like only one type of woman loves fashion.”
“I find it weird when [model] agents say: ‘You’re the only black girl booked for the show. Isn’t it great?’ Why is it great?” she continued.
This isn’t the first time the mother-of-one has spoken out about racism in fashion. She has previously revealed how she was once turned away from a casting because “[they] didn’t want any more black girls” and, if that wasn’t bad enough, a white make-up artist once refused to do her make-up.
Last September, Jourdan also backed supermodels Iman and Naomi Campbell in their campaign for racial diversity on the catwalks, believing that social media is a vital tool to help the fight. She said: “I want to talk about what goes on. A lot of people are scared to speak up.”
Jourdan’s powerful interview comes after James Scully, a high profile casting director for the likes of Stella McCartney, Tom Ford and Oscar de la Renta, slammed creative director Raf Simons at Dior for only using white models during his shows. “I feel the Dior cast is just so pointedly white that it feels deliberate,” said James. “I watch that show and it bothers me – I almost can’t even concentrate on the clothes because of the cast.”
He also accused Calvin Klein of “tokenism” avoiding getting “into trouble” by casting only one black girl for runway shows.
Image: Topshop Unique A/W14
